SLU Launches New Belonging Initiative

04/18/2023

The Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement (DICE) is announcing the launch of Home Plate, one of SLU's newest initiatives to nourish students' sense of belonging and help them feel at home at SLU and connected to St. Louis. This voluntary program will connect students to faculty and staff with similar interests to share a meal and fellowship a few times per semester. 

In partnership with Fran Pestello, Ph.D., on behalf of the President’s Office and alongside the Office of International Students, Melissa Apprill (Assistant Director of Good Neighbor Initiatives) will be leading these efforts.  

Whether students are from one of St. Louis's neighboring communities, across the country, or around the world, SLU officials believe that intentionally connecting them with faculty and staff can help us build a community where all feel accepted and know that they belong.  

The Home Plate program will give participating hosts the opportunity to enjoy time with SLU students from across the globe while offering students a chance to enjoy a family meal, get to know a SLU/St. Louis family, and take a break from classes and campus life.  

As SLU welcomes more international students to campus and seeks to increase retention rates for first-generation students and those from underrepresented backgrounds, this program will strive to cultivate relationships between these students and faculty and staff on a personal level and develop bonds within the comforts of family life.  

Home Plate leaders are looking for leaders across academic and staff units interested in being matched with a group of two to three students to host a dinner a few times over the course of a school year. Host families and matched students have the opportunity to build relationships based on interest, commonality, or shared multicultural experiences outside of their classroom or discipline through this holistic approach to community engagement.   

Home Plate at SLU is modeled after the first Home Plate program developed and led by Risa Zwerling Wrighton, the wife of Chancellor Emeritus Mark S. Wrighton of Washington University in St. Louis.  Families who engaged in Wash U’s program shared wonderful experiences such as cooking a meal together, enjoying neighborhood-based activities, and even growing lifelong relationships.  

How to Get Involved

To share interest in participating in Home Plate’s first year at SLU, complete this survey or email Melissa Apprill. 

To learn more about the program, joinDICE and the Office of International Students for the launch of Home Plate at Donuts with DICE.  The event will be Thursday, May 4, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Center for Global Citizenship. Visitors are encouraged to come to sign up, ask questions, connect with fellow hosts, or just meet the team.